Voicemail manager for portable multifunction device

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for management of voicemail messages, performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, includes: displaying a list of voicemail messages; detecting selection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list; responding to the user selection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback of the user-selected voicemail message; displaying a progress bar for the user-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress bar indicates the portion of the user-selected voicemail message that has been played; detecting movement of a finger of the user from a first position on the progress bar to a second position on the progress bar; and responding to the detection of the finger movement by restarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selected voicemail message corresponding substantially to the second position on the progress bar.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to: (A) U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/879,469, filed Jan. 8, 2007, entitled “PortableMultifunction Device”; (B) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/879,253, filed Jan. 7, 2007, entitled “Portable MultifunctionDevice”; (C) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/883,799, filedJan. 7, 2007, entitled “Voicemail Manager for Portable MultifunctionDevice”; and (D) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/824,769,filed Sep. 6, 2006, entitled “Portable Multifunction Device.” All ofthese applications are incorporated by referenced herein in theirentirety.

This application is related to the following applications: (1) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/188,182, “Touch Pad For Handheld Device,”filed on Jul. 1, 2002; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/722,948,“Touch Pad For Handheld Device,” filed on Nov. 25, 2003; (3) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/643,256, “Movable Touch Pad With AddedFunctionality,” filed on Aug. 18, 2003; (4) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/654,108, “Ambidextrous Mouse,” filed on Sep. 2, 2003; (5) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “Multipoint Touchscreen,” filedon May 6, 2004; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,964,“Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed on Jul. 30, 2004;(7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based GraphicalUser Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices” filed on Jan. 18,2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/057,050, “DisplayActuator,” filed on Feb. 11, 2005; (9) U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/658,777, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filedMar. 4, 2005; and (10) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749,“Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. All of theseapplications are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to portable electronicdevices, and more particularly, to portable devices that accessvoicemail.

BACKGROUND

As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number offunctions performed by a given device increases, it has become asignificant challenge to design a user interface that allows users toeasily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge isparticularly significant for handheld portable devices, which have muchsmaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation isunfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through whichusers receive not only content but also responses to user actions orbehaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools,and functions. Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobiletelephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellulartelephones, and the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons,increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions ofpushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access,store and manipulate data. These conventional user interfaces oftenresult in complicated key sequences and menu hierarchies that must bememorized by the user.

Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physicalpushbuttons, are also inflexible. This is unfortunate because it mayprevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by eitheran application running on the portable device or by users. When coupledwith the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequencesand menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desiredpushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.

Many portable electronic devices, such as cellular phones, have accessto voicemail. But navigating through the user interface of the device toretrieve, listen to, delete, and otherwise manage voicemail iscumbersome and inefficient.

Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices withmore transparent, intuitive, and efficient user interfaces for managingvoicemail messages that are easy to use, configure, and/or adapt.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with userinterfaces for portable devices are reduced or eliminated by thedisclosed portable multifunction device. In some embodiments, the devicehas a touch-sensitive display (also known as a “touch screen”) with agraphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors, memory and oneor more modules, programs or sets of instructions stored in the memoryfor performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the userinteracts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures onthe touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the functions mayinclude telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging,blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digitalmusic playing, and/or digital video playing. Instructions for performingthese functions may be stored in a computer readable storage mediumconfigured for execution by one or more processors.

In one aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method, performedat a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, includes:displaying a list of voicemail messages, detecting selection by a userof a respective voicemail message in the list, and responding to theuser selection of the respective voicemail message by initiatingplayback of the user-selected voicemail message. The method alsoincludes: displaying a progress bar for the user-selected voicemailmessage, wherein the progress bar indicates the portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played; detecting movementof a finger of the user from a first position on the progress bar to asecond position on the progress bar; and responding to the detection ofthe finger movement by restarting playback of the user-selectedvoicemail message at a position within the user-selected voicemailmessage corresponding substantially to the second position on theprogress bar, and changing the indicated portion of the user-selectedvoicemail message that has been played to correspond substantially tothe second position on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface on aportable electronic device with a touch screen display includes a listof voicemail messages and a progress bar. In response to detectingselection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list,playback of the user-selected voicemail message is initiated. Theprogress bar indicates the portion of the user-selected voicemailmessage that has been played. In response to detecting movement of afinger of the user from a first position on the progress bar to a secondposition on the progress bar, playback of the user-selected voicemailmessage is restarted at a position within the user-selected voicemailmessage corresponding substantially to the second position on theprogress bar, and the indicated portion of the user-selected voicemailmessage that has been played is changed to correspond substantially tothe second position on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic deviceincludes a touch screen display, one or more processors, memory, and oneor more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or moreprograms include: instructions for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; instructions for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; instructions for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; instructions for displaying aprogress bar for the user-selected voicemail message, wherein theprogress bar indicates the portion of the user-selected voicemailmessage that has been played; instructions for detecting movement of afinger of the user from a first position on the progress bar to a secondposition on the progress bar; and instructions for responding to thedetection of the finger movement by restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the second position onthe progress bar, and changing the indicated portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played to correspondsubstantially to the second position on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer readable storage mediumstores one or more programs, including instructions which when executedby a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause thedevice to: display a list of voicemail messages; detect selection by auser of a respective voicemail message in the list; respond to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; display a progress bar for theuser-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress bar indicates theportion of the user-selected voicemail message that has been played;detect movement of a finger of the user from a first position on theprogress bar to a second position on the progress bar; and respond tothe detection of the finger movement by restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the second position onthe progress bar, and changing the indicated portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played to correspondsubstantially to the second position on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic device with atouch screen display includes: means for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; means for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; means for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; means for displaying a progress barfor the user-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress barindicates the portion of the user-selected voicemail message that hasbeen played; means for detecting movement of a finger of the user from afirst position on the progress bar to a second position on the progressbar; and means for responding to the detection of the finger movement byrestarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message at a positionwithin the user-selected voicemail message corresponding substantiallyto the second position on the progress bar, and changing the indicatedportion of the user-selected voicemail message that has been played tocorrespond substantially to the second position on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method,performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display,includes: displaying a list of voicemail messages; detecting selectionby a user of a respective voicemail message in the list; responding tothe user selection of the respective voicemail message by initiatingplayback of the user-selected voicemail message; displaying a progressbar for the user-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress barindicates the portion of the user-selected voicemail message that hasbeen played; detecting a finger of the user at a position on theprogress bar; and responding to the detection of the finger byrestarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message at a positionwithin the user-selected voicemail message corresponding substantiallyto the position of the finger on the progress bar, and changing theindicated portion of the user-selected voicemail message that has beenplayed to correspond substantially to the position of the finger on theprogress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface on aportable electronic device with a touch screen display includes a listof voicemail messages and a progress bar. In response to detectingselection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list,playback of the user-selected voicemail message is initiated. Theprogress bar indicates the portion of the user-selected voicemailmessage that has been played. In response to detecting a finger of theuser at a position on the progress bar, playback of the user-selectedvoicemail message is restarted at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the position of thefinger on the progress bar, and the indicated portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played is changed tocorrespond substantially to the position of the finger on the progressbar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic deviceincludes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include: instructions for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; instructions for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; instructions for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; instructions for displaying aprogress bar for the user-selected voicemail message, wherein theprogress bar indicates the portion of the user-selected voicemailmessage that has been played; instructions for detecting a finger of theuser at a position on the progress bar; and instructions for respondingto the detection of the finger by restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the position of thefinger on the progress bar, and changing the indicated portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played to correspondsubstantially to the position of the finger on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer readable storage mediumstores one or more programs, including instructions, which when executedby a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause thedevice to: display a list of voicemail messages; detect selection by auser of a respective voicemail message in the list; respond to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; display a progress bar for theuser-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress bar indicates theportion of the user-selected voicemail message that has been played;detect a finger of the user at a position on the progress bar; andrespond to the detection of the finger by restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the position of thefinger on the progress bar, and changing the indicated portion of theuser-selected voicemail message that has been played to correspondsubstantially to the position of the finger on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic device with atouch screen display includes: means for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; means for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; means for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; means for displaying a progress barfor the user-selected voicemail message, wherein the progress barindicates the portion of the user-selected voicemail message that hasbeen played; means for detecting a finger of the user at a position onthe progress bar; and means for responding to the detection of thefinger by restarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message ata position within the user-selected voicemail message correspondingsubstantially to the position of the finger on the progress bar, andchanging the indicated portion of the user-selected voicemail messagethat has been played to correspond substantially to the position of thefinger on the progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method at aportable electronic device with a touch screen display includes:displaying a list of voicemail messages; detecting selection by a userof a respective voicemail message in the list; responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; detecting a finger contact with apredefined area on the touch screen display, wherein the predefined areaincludes a progress bar that is configured to slide in a first directionin the predefined area on the touch screen display; detecting movementof the finger contact on the touch screen display from the predefinedarea to a location outside the predefined area, wherein the movement ofthe finger contact on the touch screen display has a component parallelto the first direction and a component perpendicular to the firstdirection; sliding the progress bar in the predefined area in accordancewith the component of the movement of the finger contact that isparallel to the first direction; and restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the position of theslid progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface on aportable electronic device with a touch screen display includes a listof voicemail messages and a progress bar. In response to detectingselection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list,playback of the user-selected voicemail message is initiated. Inresponse to: detecting a finger contact with a predefined area on thetouch screen display, wherein the predefined area includes a progressbar that is configured to slide in a first direction in the predefinedarea on the touch screen display, and detecting movement of the fingercontact on the touch screen display from the predefined area to alocation outside the predefined area, wherein the movement of the fingercontact on the touch screen display has a component parallel to thefirst direction and a component perpendicular to the first direction,the progress bar is slid in the predefined area in accordance with thecomponent of the movement of the finger contact that is parallel to thefirst direction, and playback of the user-selected voicemail message isrestarted at a position within the user-selected voicemail messagecorresponding substantially to the position of the slid progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic deviceincludes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include: instructions for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; instructions for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; instructions for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; instructions for detecting a fingercontact with a predefined area on the touch screen display, wherein thepredefined area includes a progress bar that is configured to slide in afirst direction in the predefined area on the touch screen display;instructions for detecting movement of the finger contact on the touchscreen display from the predefined area to a location outside thepredefined area, wherein the movement of the finger contact on the touchscreen display has a component parallel to the first direction and acomponent perpendicular to the first direction; instructions for slidingthe progress bar in the predefined area in accordance with the componentof the movement of the finger contact that is parallel to the firstdirection; and instructions for restarting playback of the user-selectedvoicemail message at a position within the user-selected voicemailmessage corresponding substantially to the position of the slid progressbar.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer readable storage mediumstores one or more programs, including instructions, which when executedby a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause thedevice to: display a list of voicemail messages; detect selection by auser of a respective voicemail message in the list; respond to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; detect a finger contact with apredefined area on the touch screen display, wherein the predefined areaincludes a progress bar that is configured to slide in a first directionin the predefined area on the touch screen display; detect movement ofthe finger contact on the touch screen display from the predefined areato a location outside the predefined area, wherein the movement of thefinger contact on the touch screen display has a component parallel tothe first direction and a component perpendicular to the firstdirection; slide the progress bar in the predefined area in accordancewith the component of the movement of the finger contact that isparallel to the first direction; and restart playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding substantially to the position of theslid progress bar.

In another aspect of the invention, a portable electronic device with atouch screen display includes: means for displaying a list of voicemailmessages; means for detecting selection by a user of a respectivevoicemail message in the list; means for responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message by initiating playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message; means for detecting a fingercontact with a predefined area on the touch screen display, wherein thepredefined area includes a progress bar that is configured to slide in afirst direction in the predefined area on the touch screen display;means for detecting movement of the finger contact on the touch screendisplay from the predefined area to a location outside the predefinedarea, wherein the movement of the finger contact on the touch screendisplay has a component parallel to the first direction and a componentperpendicular to the first direction; means for sliding the progress barin the predefined area in accordance with the component of the movementof the finger contact that is parallel to the first direction; and meansfor restarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message at aposition within the user-selected voicemail message correspondingsubstantially to the position of the slid progress bar.

Thus, the invention provides an intuitive, easy-to-use interface toretrieve, listen to, and otherwise manage voicemail messages on aportable electronic device with a touch screen display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of theinvention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should bemade to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer tocorresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction devicewith a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portableelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an exemplary user interface for voicemail inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6C are flow diagrams of processes for accessing voicemailmessages in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

Embodiments of a portable multifunction device, user interfaces for suchdevices, and associated processes for using such devices are described.In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device suchas a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDAand/or music player functions.

The user interface may include a physical click wheel in addition to atouch screen or a virtual click wheel displayed on the touch screen. Aclick wheel is a user-interface device that may provide navigationcommands based on an angular displacement of the wheel or a point ofcontact with the wheel by a user of the device. A click wheel may alsobe used to provide a user command corresponding to selection of one ormore items, for example, when the user of the device presses down on atleast a portion of the wheel or the center of the wheel. Alternatively,breaking contact with a click wheel image on a touch screen surface mayindicate a user command corresponding to selection. For simplicity, inthe discussion that follows, a portable multifunction device thatincludes a touch screen is used as an exemplary embodiment. It should beunderstood, however, that some of the user interfaces and associatedprocesses may be applied to other devices, such as personal computersand laptop computers, that may include one or more other physicaluser-interface devices, such as a physical click wheel, a physicalkeyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick.

The device supports a variety of applications, such as a telephoneapplication, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, aninstant messaging application, a blogging application, a digital cameraapplication, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as the touchscreen. One or more functions of the touch screen as well ascorresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/orvaried from one application to the next and/or within a respectiveapplication. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as thetouch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications withuser interfaces that are intuitive and transparent.

The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments.The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/ornon-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of thekeyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24,2006, and Ser. No. 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For PortableElectronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference. The keyboard embodiments may include areduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys inexisting physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This maymake it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard,and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodimentsmay be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified inaccordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/orone or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on theportable device may utilize common and/or different keyboardembodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to atleast some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or morekeyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example,based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) ofthe respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted toreduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons,and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device. FIG. 1 is ablock diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device 100 with atouch-sensitive display 112 in accordance with some embodiments. Thetouch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” forconvenience. The device 100 may include a memory 102 (which may includeone or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122,one or more processing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118,RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113,an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116,and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more opticalsensors 164. These components may communicate over one or morecommunication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device 100, and that the device 100 may have moreor fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or amay have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented in hardware,software or a combination of both hardware and software, including oneor more signal processing and/or application specific integratedcircuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 102 by other components of the device 100,such as the CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlledby the memory controller 122.

The peripherals interface 118 couples the input and output peripheralsof the device to the CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructionsstored in memory 102 to perform various functions for the device 100 andto process data.

In some embodiments, the peripherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and thememory controller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as achip 104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separatechips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals,also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 convertselectrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email, instant messaging, and/orShort Message Service (SMS)), or any other suitable communicationprotocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of thefiling date of this document.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 providean audio interface between a user and the device 100. The audiocircuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118,converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits theelectrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts theelectrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 fromsound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal toaudio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface 118for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted tomemory 102 and/or the RF circuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118.In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headsetjack (not shown). The headset jack provides an interface between theaudio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, suchas output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., aheadphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116,to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include adisplay controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for otherinput or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons(e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches,joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments,input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of thefollowing: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer devicesuch as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may includean up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or themicrophone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g.,206, FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock ofthe touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touchscreen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on anUnlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated byreference. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) may turn powerto the device 100 on or off. The user may be able to customize afunctionality of one or more of the buttons. The touch screen 112 isused to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more softkeyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen 112 provides an input interface and anoutput interface between the device and a user. The display controller156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen112. The touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visualoutput may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combinationthereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some orall of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects,further details of which are described below.

A touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 (along withany associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touchscreen 112 and converts the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages orimages) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen 112 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, orLPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other displaytechnologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen 112 andthe display controller 156 may detect contact and any movement orbreaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologiesnow known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive,resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well asother proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one ormore points of contact with a touch screen 112. A touch-sensitivedisplay in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be analogous tothe multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), 6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1,each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, a touchscreen 112 displays visual output from the portable device 100, whereastouch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output. The touch screen112 may have a resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In an exemplaryembodiment, the touch screen has a resolution of approximately 168 dpi.The user may make contact with the touch screen 112 using any suitableobject or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In someembodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily withfinger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise thanstylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on thetouch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the roughfinger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command forperforming the actions desired by the user.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112may be as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,”filed on May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862,“Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed on May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive InputDevices,” filed on Jul. 30, 2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/048,264, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed on Jan.31, 2005; (5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-BasedGraphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed onJan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,758, “VirtualInput Device Placement On A Touch Screen User Interface,” filed on Sep.16, 2005; (7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation OfA Computer With A Touch Screen Interface,” filed on Sep. 16, 2005; (8)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys OfA Touch-Screen Virtual Keyboard,” filed on Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-HeldDevice,” filed on Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications areincorporated by reference herein.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a physical or virtualclick wheel as an input control device 116. A user may navigate amongand interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred toas icons) displayed in the touch screen 112 by rotating the click wheelor by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where theamount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angulardisplacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). Theclick wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayedicons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of theclick wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigationcommands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by aninput controller 160 as well as one or more of the modules and/or setsof instructions in memory 102. For a virtual click wheel, the clickwheel and click wheel controller may be part of the touch screen 112 andthe display controller 156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, theclick wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object thatappears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to userinteraction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheelis displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device andoperated by user contact with the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. The power system 162 may include a power management system,one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIG. 1shows an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 inI/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module143, the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100,opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, sothat the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for eitherstill and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an opticalsensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's imagemay be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the othervideo conference participants on the touch screen display. In someembodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed bythe user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the devicehousing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with thetouch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or videoimage acquisition.

The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIG.1 shows a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripherals interface 118.Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to an inputcontroller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor 166 mayperform as described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/241,839,“Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30, 2005, and11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30,2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference. In some embodiments,the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 112 whenthe multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when theuser is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensorkeeps the screen off when the device is in the user's pocket, purse, orother dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the deviceis a locked state.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 mayinclude an operating system 126, a communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (orset of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (orset of instructions) 135, and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with otherdevices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes varioussoftware components for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108and/or the external port 124. The external port 124 (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly toother devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wirelessLAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g.,30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatiblewith the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer,Inc.) devices.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with the touch screen112 (in conjunction with the display controller 156) and other touchsensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Thecontact/motion module 130 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred, determining if there is movement ofthe contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen 112, anddetermining if the contact has been broken (i.e., if the contact hasceased). Determining movement of the point of contact may includedetermining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction),and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of thepoint of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, thecontact/motion module 130 and the display controller 156 also detectscontact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module130 and the controller 160 detects contact on a click wheel.

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112, includingcomponents for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. Asused herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can bedisplayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons(such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images,videos, animations and the like.

The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications(e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, blogging 142, browser 147, andany other application that needs text input).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and providesthis information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 and/or blogger 142 aspicture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-basedservices such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, andmap/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   a contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or        contact list);    -   a telephone module 138;    -   a video conferencing module 139;    -   an e-mail client module 140;    -   an instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   a blogging module 142;    -   a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   an image management module 144;    -   a video player module 145;    -   a music player module 146;    -   a browser module 147;    -   a calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which may include weather widget 149-1,        stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget        149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other widgets obtained by        the user, as well as user-created widgets 149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;        and/or    -   search module 151.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include memo pad and other word processing applications, JAVA-enabledapplications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition,and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the contactsmodule 137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list,including: adding name(s) to the address book; deleting name(s) from theaddress book; associating telephone number(s), e-mail address(es),physical address(es) or other information with a name; associating animage with a name; categorizing and sorting names; providing telephonenumbers or e-mail addresses to initiate and/or facilitate communicationsby telephone 138, video conference 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and soforth. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes usingcontacts module 137 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the telephonemodule 138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters correspondingto a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in theaddress book 137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, diala respective telephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,the videoconferencing module 139 may be used to initiate, conduct, andterminate a video conference between a user and one or more otherparticipants.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the e-mail client module 140 may be used to create, send,receive, and manage e-mail. In conjunction with image management module144, the e-mail module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 may be used to enter asequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modifypreviously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message(for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia MessageService (MMS) protocol), to receive instant messages and to viewreceived instant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/orreceived instant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files,video files and/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or anEnhanced Messaging Service (EMS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, image management module 144, and browsing module 147, theblogging module 142 may be used to send text, still images, video,and/or other graphics to a blog (e.g., the user's blog).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, the camera module143 may be used to capture still images or video (including a videostream) and store them into memory 102, modify characteristics of astill image or video, or delete a still image or video from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, the image management module 144 may be used to arrange,modify or otherwise manipulate, label, delete, present (e.g., in adigital slide show or album), and store still and/or video images.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, and speaker 111,the video player module 145 may be used to display, present or otherwiseplay back videos (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connecteddisplay via external port 124).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, the music player module146 allows the user to download and play back recorded music and othersound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AACfiles. In some embodiments, the device 100 may include the functionalityof an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the browser module 147 may be used to browse the Internet,including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages orportions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to webpages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail module 140, and browser module 147, the calendarmodule 148 may be used to create, display, modify, and store calendarsand data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to do lists,etc.).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget modules 149 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 may beused by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portionof a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, thesearch module 151 may be used to search for text, music, sound, image,video, and/or other files in memory 102 that match one or more searchcriteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms).

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of instructions for performing one or more functions describedabove. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 maystore a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, the device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen 112 and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screenand/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation ofthe device 100, the number of physical input/control devices (such aspush buttons, dials, and the like) on the device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates the device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on the device 100. In such embodiments,the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input/control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics. In this embodiment, as well as othersdescribed below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by makingcontact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers202 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selectionof one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the oneor more graphics. In some embodiments, the contact may include agesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left toright, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of afinger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) thathas made contact with the device 100. In some embodiments, inadvertentcontact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipegesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select thecorresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection isa tap.

The device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as“home” or menu button 204. As described previously, the menu button 204may be used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applicationsthat may be executed on the device 100. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI intouch screen 112.

In one embodiment, the device 100 includes a touch screen 112, a menubutton 204, a push button 206 for powering the device on/off and lockingthe device, and volume adjustment button(s) 208. The push button 206 maybe used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the buttonand holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined timeinterval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing thebutton before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlockthe device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment,the device 100 also may accept verbal input for activation ordeactivation of some functions through the microphone 113.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on a portablemultifunction device 100.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portableelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments. In someembodiments, user interface 300 includes the following elements, or asubset or superset thereof:

-   -   Unlock image 302 that is moved with a finger gesture to unlock        the device;    -   Arrow 304 that provides a visual cue to the unlock gesture;    -   Channel 306 that provides additional cues to the unlock gesture;    -   Time 308;    -   Day 310;    -   Date 312; and    -   Wallpaper image 314.

In some embodiments, the device detects contact with the touch-sensitivedisplay (e.g., a user's finger making contact on or near the unlockimage 302) while the device is in a user-interface lock state. Thedevice moves the unlock image 302 in accordance with the contact. Thedevice transitions to a user-interface unlock state if the detectedcontact corresponds to a predefined gesture, such as moving the unlockimage across channel 306. Conversely, the device maintains theuser-interface lock state if the detected contact does not correspond tothe predefined gesture. As noted above, processes that use gestures onthe touch screen to unlock the device are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by PerformingGestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 400 includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator 402 for wireless communication;    -   Time 404;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Phone 138;        -   E-mail client 140, which may include an indicator 410 of the            number of unread e-mails;        -   Browser 147; and        -   Music player 146; and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   IM 141;        -   Image management 144;        -   Camera 143;        -   Video player 145;        -   Weather 149-1;        -   Stocks 149-2;        -   Blog 142;        -   Calendar 148;        -   Calculator 149-3;        -   Alarm clock 149-4;        -   Dictionary 149-5; and        -   User-created widget 149-6.

In some embodiments, UI 400 displays all of the available applications136 on one screen so that there is no need to scroll through a list ofapplications (e.g., via a scroll bar). In some embodiments, as thenumber of applications increase, the icons corresponding to theapplications may decrease in size so that all applications may bedisplayed on a single screen without scrolling. In some embodiments,having all applications on one screen and a menu button enables a userto access any desired application with at most two inputs, such asactivating the menu button 204 and then activating the desiredapplication (e.g., by a tap or other finger gesture on the iconcorresponding to the application).

In some embodiments, UI 400 provides integrated access to bothwidget-based applications and non-widget-based applications. In someembodiments, all of the widgets, whether user-created or not, aredisplayed in UI 400. In other embodiments, activating the icon foruser-created widget 149-6 may lead to another UI (not shown) thatcontains the user-created widgets or icons corresponding to theuser-created widgets.

In some embodiments, a user may rearrange the icons in UI 400, e.g.,using processes described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/459,602, “Portable Electronic Device With Interface ReconfigurationMode,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference.For example, a user may move application icons in and out of tray 408using finger gestures.

In some embodiments, UI 400 includes a gauge (not shown) that displaysan updated account usage metric for an account associated with usage ofthe device (e.g., a cellular phone account), as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/322,552, “Account Information Display ForPortable Communication Device,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an exemplary user interface for voicemail inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interfaces3200A and 3200B include the following elements, or a subset or supersetthereof:

-   -   402, 404, and 406, as described above;    -   backup icon 3202 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) initiates a process that backs up and replays the        preceding few seconds (e.g., 1 to 5 seconds) of the voicemail        message;    -   Progress bar 3204 that indicates what fraction of a voicemail        message has been played and that may be used to help scroll        through the message in response to detection of a user gesture        3206;    -   Speed up icon 3208 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) initiates a process that speeds up playback of the        voicemail message, which may also adjust the sound frequency or        pitch of the fast playback so that the words, although played        back quickly, are still easy to understand:    -   Names 3210 of the people (associated with incoming phone numbers        via the user's contact list) who have left voicemail messages        (e.g., Aaron Jones 3210-1) or the phone number if the person's        name is not available (e.g., 408-246-8101 3210-2);    -   Date 3212 and/or time of the voicemail;    -   Additional information icon 3214 that when activated (e.g., by a        finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to the        corresponding contact list entry (not shown) or to a UI for        unknown phone numbers (not shown);    -   Speaker icon 3216 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) initiates playback of the voicemail through a speaker;    -   Options icon 3218 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) initiates display of a menu of additional voicemail        options;    -   Pause icon 3220 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) initiates pausing of the voicemail;    -   Delete symbol icon 3222 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to confirm that the        user wants to delete the corresponding voicemail (e.g. UI 3200B,        FIG. 32B).    -   Cancel icon 3226 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) changes the display from UI 3200B to UI 3200A without        deleting the corresponding voicemail;    -   Delete icon 3228 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) deletes the corresponding voicemail and changes the        display from UI 3200B to UI 3200A; and    -   Play icon 3230 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the        icon) initiates or continues playback of the voicemail.

If the list of voicemail messages fills more than the screen area, theuser may scroll through the list using substantially vertical upwardand/or downward gestures 3224 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, in response to detection of a user tap or otherpredefined gesture in the row corresponding to a particular voicemail(but other than a tap or gesture on icon 3214), the phone moduleinitiates playback of the corresponding voicemail. Thus, there is randomaccess to the voicemails and the voicemails may be heard in any order.

In some embodiments, in response to detection of a user gesture, theplayback position in the voicemail can be modified. For example, inresponse to detection of the user's finger touching 3206 the progressbar and then sliding along the progress bar, the playback position maybe altered to correspond to the position of the user's finger along theprogress bar. This user gesture on the progress bar makes it easy for auser to skip to and/or replay portions of interest in the voicemailmessage.

FIGS. 6A-6C are flow diagrams of processes 600, 650, and 670 foraccessing voicemail messages in accordance with some embodiments. Insome embodiments, the processes are performed by a portable electronicdevice (e.g., device 100) with a touch screen display (e.g.,touch-sensitive display 112). The device displays a list of voicemailmessages (602) (e.g., UI 3200A, FIG. 5A). In some embodiments, thedevice may detect a scrolling gesture (e.g., gesture 3224) by a user onthe touch screen display (604). In some embodiments, the scrollinggesture comprises a substantially vertical movement of the user's fingeron the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the scrolling gesturehas a horizontal position on the touch screen and detecting thescrolling gesture is independent of the horizontal position of thegesture on the touch screen. The device responds to the scrollinggesture by scrolling the list of voicemail messages (606).

The device detects selection by a user of a respective voicemail message(608). In some embodiments, detecting selection by the user of arespective voicemail message comprises detecting a tap gesture by thefinger of the user on the respective voicemail message. For example,user selection may be accomplished by a user tap or other predefinedgesture in the row in UI 3200A (FIG. 5A) corresponding to a particularvoicemail (but other than a tap or gesture on icon 3214). The deviceresponds to the user selection of the respective voicemail message byinitiating playback of the user-selected voicemail message (610). Insome embodiments, the respective voicemail message in the list ishighlighted (e.g., Bob Adams 3210-3, FIG. 5A).

In some embodiments, the device responds to the user selection of therespective voicemail message by also displaying a progress bar (e.g.,progress bar 3204) for the user-selected message (612). As shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B and explained above, the progress bar indicates theportion of the user-selected voicemail message that has been played. Theprogress bar may be used to help scroll through the message in responseto a user gesture (e.g., gesture 3206).

If a user selects a backup icon (e.g., backup icon 3202), for example,by a finger tap on the backup icon, the device detects such selection(614) and responds to the user selection of the backup icon by backingup the playback of the user-selected voicemail message by a predefinedamount (616). In some embodiments, the predefined amount is between oneand five seconds.

Similarly, if a user selects a speed up icon (e.g., speed up icon 3208),for example, by a finger tap on the icon, the device detects suchselection (618) and responds to the user selection of the speed up iconby increasing the playback speed of the user-selected voicemail message(620). In some embodiments, the playback speed is increased by at leastfifty percent (50%). In some embodiments, the playback speed isincreased by a factor between 1.5 and 2.2 in response to detecting userselection of the speed up icon 3208. In some embodiments, the soundfrequency or pitch of the playback is adjusted. Adjusting the soundfrequency or pitch helps the playback to be easily understood despitethe increased playback speed.

In some embodiments, a user may modify the playback position of theselected voicemail by gesturing on the displayed progress bar 3204. Insome embodiments, the device detects movement of a finger of the userfrom a first position on the progress bar to a second position on theprogress bar (622). In some embodiments, the first position in theprogress bar corresponds to a current playback position. The deviceresponds to the detection of the finger movement by restarting playbackof the user-selected voicemail message at a position within theuser-selected voicemail message corresponding substantially to thesecond position on the progress bar (624). In some embodiments, theindicated portion of the user-selected voicemail message that has beenplayed is changed to correspond substantially to the second position onthe progress bar.

In some embodiments, the device detects a finger of the user at aposition on the progress bar (626). In some embodiments, the deviceresponds to the detection of the finger movement by restarting (628)playback of the user-selected voicemail message at a position within theuser-selected voicemail message corresponding substantially to theposition of a finger on the progress bar, independent of whether thefinger was moved on the progress bar. For example, playback of theuser-selected voicemail message may be restarted at a position withinthe user-selected voicemail message corresponding substantially to aposition of a finger on the progress bar that is maintained for greaterthan a predetermined amount of time (e.g., one second). As anotherexample, playback of the user-selected voicemail message may berestarted at a position within the user-selected voicemail messagecorresponding substantially to a position of a finger on the progressbar just prior to lift off of the finger, independent of whether thefinger was moved on the progress bar.

In some embodiments, while the device displays a progress bar (e.g.,progress bar 3204) for the user-selected message, a finger contact isdetected (632) with a predefined area on the touch screen display,wherein the predefined area includes a progress bar that is configuredto slide in a first direction in the predefined area on the touch screendisplay. Movement of the finger contact is detected (634) on the touchscreen display from the predefined area to a location outside thepredefined area, wherein the movement of the finger contact on the touchscreen display has a component parallel to the first direction and acomponent perpendicular to the first direction. The progress bar slides(636) in the predefined area in accordance with the component of themovement of the finger contact that is parallel to the first direction.Playback of the user-selected voicemail message is restarted (638) at aposition within the user-selected voicemail message correspondingsubstantially to the position of the slid progress bar. In thisembodiment, the user can adjust the position of the progress bar withoutthe user's finger obscuring the progress bar.

While the processes 600, 650, and 670 for retrieving voice messagesdescribed above include a number of operations that appear to occur in aspecific order, it should be apparent that the processes can includemore or fewer operations. Furthermore, an order of two or moreoperations may be changed and/or two or more operations may be combinedinto a single operation.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A method, comprising: at a portable electronic device with a touchscreen display: displaying a list of voicemail messages; detectingselection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list;responding to the user selection of the respective voicemail message byinitiating playback of the user-selected voicemail message; detecting afinger contact with a progress bar on the touch screen display, theprogress bar configured to slide in a first direction on the touchscreen display; detecting continuous movement of the finger contact onthe touch screen display from the progress bar to a location other thanthe progress bar, wherein the continuous movement of the finger contacton the touch screen display has a component parallel to the firstdirection and a component perpendicular to the first direction; inresponse to the detected continuous movement, sliding the progress barin accordance with the component of the movement of the finger contactthat is parallel to the first direction; and restarting playback of theuser-selected voicemail message at a position within the user-selectedvoicemail message corresponding to the position of the slid progressbar.
 2. The method of claim 1, including detecting a scrolling gesture;and responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list ofvoicemail messages.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein detectingselection by the user of a respective voicemail message comprisesdetecting a tap gesture by the finger of the user on the respectivevoicemail message.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein responding to theuser selection of the respective voicemail message includes highlightingthe respective voicemail message in the list.
 5. The method of claim 1,including detecting selection by the user of a backup icon; respondingto the user selection of the backup icon by backing up the playback ofthe user-selected voicemail message by a predefined amount; detectingselection by the user of a speed up icon; and responding to the userselection of the speed up icon by increasing the playback speed of theuser-selected voicemail message.
 6. The method of claim 5, including,for a voicemail message being played at an increased playback speed,adjusting the sound frequency or pitch of the playback.
 7. A graphicaluser interface displayed on a portable electronic device with a touchscreen display, comprising: a list of voicemail messages; and a progressbar; wherein: in response to detecting selection by a user of arespective voicemail message in the list, playback of the user-selectedvoicemail message is initiated; a finger contact is detected with aprogress bar on the touch screen display, the progress bar configured toslide in a first direction on the touch screen display, and continuousmovement of the finger contact is detected on the touch screen displayfrom the progress bar to a location other than the progress bar, whereinthe continuous movement of the finger contact on the touch screendisplay has a component parallel to the first direction and a componentperpendicular to the first direction, in response to the detectedcontinuous movement, the progress bar is slid in accordance with thecomponent of the movement of the finger contact that is parallel to thefirst direction, and playback of the user-selected voicemail message isrestarted at a position within the user-selected voicemail messagecorresponding to the position of the slid progress bar.
 8. The graphicaluser interface of claim 7, wherein: in response to detecting a scrollinggesture, the list of voicemail messages is scrolled.
 9. The graphicaluser interface of claim 7, wherein detecting selection by the user of arespective voicemail message comprises detecting a tap gesture by thefinger of the user on the respective voicemail message.
 10. Thegraphical user interface of claim 7, wherein responding to the userselection of the respective voicemail message includes highlighting therespective voicemail message in the list.
 11. The graphical userinterface of claim 7, wherein in response to detecting selection by theuser of a backup icon, the playback of the user-selected voicemailmessage is backed up by a predefined amount; and in response todetecting selection by the user of a speed up icon, the playback speedof the user-selected voicemail message is increased.
 12. The graphicaluser interface of claim 11, wherein, for a voicemail message beingplayed at an increased playback speed, the sound frequency or pitch ofthe playback is adjusted.
 13. A portable electronic device, comprising:a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or moreprograms, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or moreprograms including instructions for: displaying a list of voicemailmessages; detecting selection by a user of a respective voicemailmessage in the list; responding to the user selection of the respectivevoicemail message by initiating playback of the user-selected voicemailmessage; detecting a finger contact with a progress bar on the touchscreen display, the progress bar configured to slide in a firstdirection on the touch screen display; detecting continuous movement ofthe finger contact on the touch screen display from the progress bar toa location other than the progress bar, wherein the continuous movementof the finger contact on the touch screen display has a componentparallel to the first direction and a component perpendicular to thefirst direction; in response to the detected continuous movement,sliding the progress bar in accordance with the component of themovement of the finger contact that is parallel to the first direction;and restarting playback of the user-selected voicemail message at aposition within the user-selected voicemail message corresponding to theposition of the slid progress bar.
 14. The device of claim 13, the oneor more programs further including instructions for: detecting ascrolling gesture; and responding to the scrolling gesture by scrollingthe list of voicemail messages.
 15. The device of claim 13, whereindetecting selection by the user of a respective voicemail messagecomprises detecting a tap gesture by the finger of the user on therespective voicemail message.
 16. The device of claim 13, whereinresponding to the user selection of the respective voicemail messageincludes highlighting the respective voicemail message in the list. 17.The device of claim 13, the one or more programs further includinginstructions for: detecting selection by the user of a backup icon;responding to the user selection of the backup icon by backing up theplayback of the user-selected voicemail message by a predefined amount;detecting selection by the user of a speed up icon; and responding tothe user selection of the speed up icon by increasing the playback speedof the user-selected voicemail message.
 18. The device of claim 17, theone or more programs further including instructions for: for a voicemailmessage being played at an increased playback speed, adjusting the soundfrequency or pitch of the playback.
 19. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or moreprograms comprising instructions, which when executed by a portableelectronic device with a touch screen display, cause the portableelectronic device to: display a list of voicemail messages; detectselection by a user of a respective voicemail message in the list;respond to the user selection of the respective voicemail message byinitiating playback of the user-selected voicemail message; detect afinger contact with a progress bar on the touch screen display, theprogress bar configured to slide in a first direction on the touchscreen display; detect continuous movement of the finger contact on thetouch screen display from the progress bar to a location other than theprogress bar, wherein the continuous movement of the finger contact onthe touch screen display has a component parallel to the first directionand a component perpendicular to the first direction; in response to thedetected continuous movement, slide the progress bar in accordance withthe component of the movement of the finger contact that is parallel tothe first direction; and restart playback of the user-selected voicemailmessage at a position within the user-selected voicemail messagecorresponding to the position of the slid progress bar.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, the one ormore programs further including instructions which cause the device to:detect a scrolling gesture; and respond to the scrolling gesture byscrolling the list of voicemail messages.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein detectingselection by the user of a respective voicemail message comprisesdetecting a tap gesture by the finger of the user on the respectivevoicemail message.
 22. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 19, wherein responding to the user selection of therespective voicemail message includes highlighting the respectivevoicemail message in the list.
 23. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 19, the one or more programs further includinginstructions which cause the device to: detect selection by the user ofa backup icon; respond to the user selection of the backup icon bybacking up the playback of the user-selected voicemail message by apredefined amount; detect selection by the user of a speed up icon; andrespond to the user selection of the speed up icon by increasing theplayback speed of the user-selected voicemail message.
 24. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 23, the one ormore programs further including instructions which cause the device to:for a voicemail message being played at an increased playback speed,adjust the sound frequency or pitch of the playback.